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The "sweep-things-under-the-carpet" culture is very strong in Canada. It's can be very taboo to discuss unpleasant subjects.
One of the reasons is that the Canadian identity often revolves around notions of "niceness", "best-ness", etc.
It's not a cocky arrogance like that of the Americans, it's more of a smugness.
The idea for example that Canada may not be as rich and excellence-driven as the U.S., but has nonetheless built a "better" society than the U.S. for its citizens, is close to being a dogma in Canada.
That's the same as the UK, doesn't seem racist but lift the carpet then its there to see.
That's the same as the UK, doesn't seem racist but lift the carpet then its there to see.
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Yes, it is something that (Anglo-)Canada has inherited or retained from its British roots.
French Canada is not so much like this (notwithstanding what I said on the other page), and is more "in your face" when it comes to discussing issues. It is less restrained and sometimes ugly but everything does tend to get aired out instead of simmering below the surface.
The contrast between the francophone and anglophone media in Canada when it comes to this can sometimes be striking.
French Canadians didn't engage in nearly as much genocide as English Canadians. French Canadians were mostly barred from even settling west of Quebec. The French Canadians were generally much more tolerant of the first nations than the English Canadians.
French Canadians also did way more, ummmm... mixing (cue the mental images!) with the aboriginals than the anglos did.
I tend to find that French Canadians have less of the guilt complex towards aboriginals than other Canadians do.
The whole thing about stealing their land and '"we're all immigrants here except for the natives" is not something you hear very often among francophones. The general view among francophones is not as favourable to aboriginal demands as the difference between a card-carrying First Nations person and a non card carrying run-of-the-mill French Canadian is often not that great when it comes to bloodlines.
Maybe, but while English Canadians may have this "guilt complex" towards aboriginals, it's not enough to solve the problem: one actually needs to do something. And of course you can hear a lot of racist comments about aboriginals from anglophones, same as you can from francophones.
BIMBAM, and not only on this issue, seems to be under the (to my mind very Canadian) impression that merely talking about an issue and "showing good will" about it puts you almost halfway there in solving it. So he hears more about aboriginal issues in BC than he did while he was in Quebec. First, I'm not so sure of this, because aboriginal issues are quite often discussed in Quebec media, even if they may not capture the imagination of the population as much as other issues. I can think of the role natives play alongside the environmental movement in opposing projects that risk damaging their way of life, for example, and also the deplorable living conditions on some reserves are reported on by the media. (The last one we heard about was in the Mauricie I believe.) But even if it's more discussed in BC than in Quebec, does it follow that anything's actually being done about it?
Saying that "we're all immigrants here except for the natives" as you put it, or having aboriginal folk bands play at Canada Day and at the opening ceremonies of big events, may serve to show "awareness". But it doesn't actually do anything to solve the pressing issues faced by natives.
Maybe, but while English Canadians may have this "guilt complex" towards aboriginals, it's not enough to solve the problem: one actually needs to do something. And of course you can hear a lot of racist comments about aboriginals from anglophones, same as you can from francophones.
BIMBAM, and not only on this issue, seems to be under the (to my mind very Canadian) impression that merely talking about an issue and "showing good will" about it puts you almost halfway there in solving it. So he hears more about aboriginal issues in BC than he did while he was in Quebec. First, I'm not so sure of this, because aboriginal issues are quite often discussed in Quebec media, even if they may not capture the imagination of the population as much as other issues. I can think of the role natives play alongside the environmental movement in opposing projects that risk damaging their way of life, for example, and also the deplorable living conditions on some reserves are reported on by the media. (The last one we heard about was in the Mauricie I believe.) But even if it's more discussed in BC than in Quebec, does it follow that anything's actually being done about it?
Saying that "we're all immigrants here except for the natives" as you put it, or having aboriginal folk bands play at Canada Day and at the opening ceremonies of big events, may serve to show "awareness". But it doesn't actually do anything to solve the pressing issues faced by natives.
I totally agree that neither approach is really desirable nor acceptable.
I feel that the Canadian government isn't taking any responsibility for how Aboriginal Canadians live in their Country. The fundamental reason why they face so much issues in the first place is because of their government and eventually the general populations racist attitudes towards them. This attitude seems to have manifested in stereotyped, assuming that the aboriginal population's culture and way of life is inferior and not compatible with mainstream society. Its a striking pattern that is shared with many Countries both in the Americas and in other Countries like Australia.
Firstly the government needs to invest in the aboriginal communities, secondly widespread education reforms needs to take place in schools so Children (and parents) can understand the psychology of racism and the history behind it and thirdly Canada needs to answer all the uncomfortable questions. But this will never happen because the people in power (the elites who are typically White) will lose their privilege.
Now I've never been to Canada but I can guess the situation is remarkably similar to here in terms of treating a minority with disrespect - like Police stop and search disproportionately targeting ethnic minorities or blaming immigrants for all our problems.
Above all this the most crazy thing is that virtually no ones knows about how aboriginal Canadians are treated outside Canada (or even WITHIN Canada I'm guessing!) this just adds to the illusion that racism is a thing of the past when in reality its in plain site.
I feel that the Canadian government isn't taking any responsibility for how Aboriginal Canadians live in their Country. The fundamental reason why they face so much issues in the first place is because of their government and eventually the general populations racist attitudes towards them. This attitude seems to have manifested in stereotyped, assuming that the aboriginal population's culture and way of life is inferior and not compatible with mainstream society. Its a striking pattern that is shared with many Countries both in the Americas and in other Countries like Australia.
Firstly the government needs to invest in the aboriginal communities, secondly widespread education reforms needs to take place in schools so Children (and parents) can understand the psychology of racism and the history behind it and thirdly Canada needs to answer all the uncomfortable questions. But this will never happen because the people in power (the elites who are typically White) will lose their privilege.
Now I've never been to Canada but I can guess the situation is remarkably similar to here in terms of treating a minority with disrespect - like Police stop and search disproportionately targeting ethnic minorities or blaming immigrants for all our problems.
Above all this the most crazy thing is that virtually no ones knows about how aboriginal Canadians are treated outside Canada (or even WITHIN Canada I'm guessing!) this just adds to the illusion that racism is a thing of the past when in reality its in plain site.
The situation you have in Canada with aboriginals you basically have to varying degrees in all of the new world countries where original peoples where overwhelmed by (almost always, at least at first) European settlers.
In Canada the sentiment seems to be that the government has done enough for aboriginals and put the stuff in place (think free university tuition for example) and that it's now up to the aboriginals to use what's been offered to them.
I realize this hasn't and doesn't work but that's the mindset.
The current Canadian government in particular seems to have a very uniform view of society. For example, they say the issue of missing and murdered aboriginal women in the West is solely a criminal justice issue. For them there isn't any other angle to it... even though there are hundreds of women with a particular ethnological profile involved, and that their victimization rate (because of this apparently) is XXXX% higher than that of the non-aboriginal population.
In a sense, Canada (or at least government officials here) is actually fortunate that the aboriginal population is so small relative to the rest of us. It allows them to sweep the issue under the carpet.
But the reality is that aboriginals have much higher birth rates, and on the Prairies especially provinces like Saskatchewan and Manitoba are looking at a medium-term future where between a fifth and a third of their populations will likely be aboriginal.
The situation you have in Canada with aboriginals you basically have to varying degrees in all of the new world countries where original peoples where overwhelmed by (almost always, at least at first) European settlers.
In Canada the sentiment seems to be that the government has done enough for aboriginals and put the stuff in place (think free university tuition for example) and that it's now up to the aboriginals to use what's been offered to them.
I realize this hasn't and doesn't work but that's the mindset.
The current Canadian government in particular seems to have a very uniform view of society. For example, they say the issue of missing and murdered aboriginal women in the West is solely a criminal justice issue. For them there isn't any other angle to it... even though there are hundreds of women with a particular ethnological profile involved, and that their victimization rate (because of this apparently) is XXXX% higher than that of the non-aboriginal population.
In a sense, Canada (or at least government officials here) is actually fortunate that the aboriginal population is so small relative to the rest of us. It allows them to sweep the issue under the carpet.
But the reality is that aboriginals have much higher birth rates, and on the Prairies especially provinces like Saskatchewan and Manitoba are looking at a medium-term future where between a fifth and a third of their populations will likely be aboriginal.
And the reason why they think like this is because (I'm guessing here so do correct me if I'm wrong) they lived a sheltered life with privilege.
Its quite scary to think that a government can't think from other angles.
And the reason why they think like this is because (I'm guessing here so do correct me if I'm wrong) they lived a sheltered life with privilege.
Its quite scary to think that a government can't think from other angles.
Why? It's just a representation of the population. In my lifetime people have gone from institutionalizing homosexuals to allowing gay marriage. Change takes time.
I agree that there is much to atone for, and more definitely needs to be done, but at what point, as a population and a nation are we done? What is enough? There are land claims in British Columbia well in excess of 100% of the total area of the province. You have populations of dozens holding hostage multi billion dollar projects. It's couched in environmental and traditional terms, but the settlement is always about money.
At what point is the guilt paid for?
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